James Harris

James is the chair and chief executive of Mott MacDonald and has been with the company for more than three decades.   

 He joined as a graduate in 1990 after studying civil and structural engineering, beginning his career as an engineer in our UK water business. James worked on some of our major civil engineering projects in Hong Kong before returning to the UK in 2002.  

After holding several senior leadership positions across the company, he was appointed to our Executive Board in 2017 becoming group managing director in 2019, and chair and chief executive in 2022.  

In these roles, James has made a significant contribution to the company’s strong operational performance and its position as one of the world’s largest employee-owned companies.  

He has been instrumental in shaping our award-winning approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, championing collaboration with our clients to advance improvements in the wider industry, and strengthening our commitment to technical excellence and better outcomes in all that we deliver.  

As a member of the UK Green Construction Board’s Infrastructure Working Group, he notably contributed to the influential Infrastructure Carbon Review, followed by PAS 2080 - the first global standard for managing infrastructure carbon. James also helped establish Mott MacDonald Bentley, our unique design and build contractor that has delivered over £2.5bn turnover in 25 years.